Rat Defense: Small Center Defense
C00 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d6
White scores 62.6% here across 566 club games — but the 16.4% who answer c4 score 56.5%, 6 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 566 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 62.6% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nf3 | 216 | 38.2% | 67.6% | holds up |
| c4 | 93 | 16.4% | 56.5% | below the line |
| Nc3 | 83 | 14.7% | 57.2% | below the line |
| Bd3 | 58 | 10.2% | 68.1% | holds up |
| f4 | 46 | 8.1% | 64.1% | holds up |
"Below the line" means the reply scores at least three points worse than the position does overall. Replies played fewer than 25 times are left out: the sample is too small to read.
Is this costing you anything?
A table of averages cannot tell you whether you go wrong here — only your own games can. Opening Leak Lab reads your Chess.com or Lichess archive, finds the decisions you repeat, and checks each one against this book and a bundled Stockfish.